Personal Freedom and Prosperity 108: Freedom in Decline

But back in the 1960’s when I began, it seemed to me that we’d begun reversing the order of things – that through more and more rules and regulations and confiscatory taxes, the Government was taking more of our freedom. I went into politics in part to put up my hand and say, “Stop!" I was a citizen-politician, and it seemed the right thing for a citizen to do.

I think we have stopped a lot of what needed stopping. And I hope we have once again reminded people that man is not free unless government is limited. There’s a clear cause and effect here that is as neat and predictable as a law of physics: as government expands, liberty contracts. —President Ronald Reagan

Unfortunately, the United States government in the 20th and 21st Centuries has greatly increased spending and government debt, which, in turn, greatly increases taxes and decreases the power and opportunity of all Americans. Freedom and the economic benefits of a free society are in decline and in peril.